CHAMPCAR/CART: BTCC: 100 years of Ford in Motorsport

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Ford's debut in motorsport.
Historian Graham Robson summarises a Century of achievement
On 10 October 1901, Henry Ford's brand new racecar won its first ever event
at Grosse Point, Michigan, USA. As a...

This year marks the 100th anniversary of Ford's debut in motorsport.
Historian Graham Robson summarises a Century of achievement

On 10 October 1901, Henry Ford's brand new racecar won its first ever event
at Grosse Point, Michigan, USA. As a result of that win, he gained
sufficient financial backing to set up the Henry Ford Company, and the
world-famous marque was founded.

Since that debut victory, in a century of motorsport, Ford-powered cars have
won countless races, rallies and speed record events and numerous national
and world championships. From 1901, when Henry Ford personally won that
original race, Ford has been ever-present at the heart of motorsport. The
company's achievements include...

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Moving through Ford-powered front-engined racing at Indianapolis in the
1920s, and two Monte Carlo rally victories in the 1930s, Ford's motorsport
effort intensified in the 1950s and 1960s. Wins on the East African Safari
rally, in British saloon car racing, and in the first high-profile American
NASCAR saloon-car events were only a prelude to what followed.

Ford made sure that it always had race-winning and race-reliable power
units. Robust American-engineered V8s, in Jim Clark's Lotus-Ford at
Indianapolis, in Galaxies for NASCAR racing, and in Ford GT40s, helped to
bring this about. Ford-engined AC Cobra sports cars won the World Sportscar
Championship in 1965, and mid-engined Ford GT40 cars notched up four
consecutive victories in the Le Mans 24-Hour race - from 1966 to 1969.
Numerous saloon car racing successes for V8 Mustangs and Falcons all
reinforced the image of Ford dependability.

In Britain, Ford road-car engines were developed with Cosworth for
single-seater racing series such as Formula Junior, F3, and F2, and
Ford-powered cars were often dominant. Such events were so popular that a
new 'training formula', Formula Ford, was founded in 1967 to start young
drivers up the ladder to fame. Formula Ford, now more than 30 years old, is
still the world's most popular, and universal, racing 'starter-formula'.

In 1967, Ford (again with Cosworth) made the logical move into Grand Prix
racing, by introducing a Formula 1 engine. Making its race-winning debut in
the Dutch Grand Prix, the Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine developed its own
legend, and became the most successful F1 power unit of all time. In 1973,
DFV engines won all 15 rounds of the series, and over a 16-year period, the
DFV claimed victory in 155 World Championship F1 races.

The DFV's most notable derivative was the turbocharged DFX, which made its
name in North America. Starting in the mid-1970s, the DFX became the most
successful power unit in CART/Indycar racing, where it ruled the roost for
nearly 15 years. As in F1, Ford DFX-powered cars - McLarens, Penskes,
Marches and Lolas - were dominant. The DFX also took over America's most
famous motor race - the Indianapolis 500, winning every Indy 500 from 1978
to 1988, an unparalleled record of success. Later versions of the
turbocharged Ford V8 were used in 1993 by 'rookie' Nigel Mansell, to win the
PPG Championship at his very first attempt and by Jacques Villeneuve to win
the series in 1995. For 2000 a new derivative, the XF V8 helped Ford to win
the CART Engine Manufacturers' Championship crown.

In recent years, Cosworth has developed many successful racecar engines on
Ford's behalf. In F1, the narrow-angle HB V8 succeeded the DFV, its career
culminating in six victories in the 1993 F1 season - five by Ayrton Senna's
McLaren. A new V8 engine, the 3.5-litre Zetec-R V8, was used by
Benetton-Ford in 1994, when Michael Schumacher won eight of the season's 16
races, capturing the Driver's Championship for the first time.

Ford and Cosworth then designed a series of 3.0-litre V10s, the latest for
the exclusive use of Jaguar-Cosworth. The 800bhp-plus power units are
acknowledged as some of the lightest and most powerful engines in F1.

Back in the 1960s away from the glitz of single-seater racing, Ford
developed its production cars to compete in world-famous races and rallies.
Available in large numbers, all were powerful, robustly reliable, and sold
at attractive prices. All over the world, cars like the Lotus-Cortina began
beating heavier, large-engined machinery. The Lotus-Cortina won its first
British Saloon Car Championship in 1964, with F1 ace Jim Clark and also
dominated the European saloon car scene, in 1965 with Sir John Whitmore.

Ford then developed the original superfast Escort, the Twin-Cam. This, and
its RS-badged successors, the Escort RS1600s and RS1800s, became
ultra-successful race and rally cars. For more than 30 years, until the
last-ever 'works Escorts' competed in the Rally of Great Britain in 1998,
they set the pace all round the world. Heroes such as Roger Clark, Hannu
Mikkola, Bjorn Waldegard, Ari Vatanen and Carlos Sainz all made their names
in Fords, inspiring thousands of private owners to make Escorts their
choice.

For the 1990s, Ford developed the four-wheel-drive Escort RS Cosworth (based
on the Sierra RS Cosworth) not only as a stunning road car, but also as a
successful rally car. After winning five World Championship rallies in its
first season (1993) it went on to win the 1994 Monte Carlo rally. The
mighty turbocharged Sierra RS 500 Cosworth had enjoyed a spectacular
circuit-racing career - becoming so dominant that regulations were
eventually re-written to blunt its success. The super-fast 550bhp/2-litre
cars won the 1987 World Touring Car Championship, and the 1988 European
Championship. As European saloon car racing regulations turned towards
'Super Tourers' (for 2-litre cars with front-wheel-drive) Ford refined the
V6-engined Mondeo into another race-winner. With Paul Radisich at the
wheel, the Mondeo won the World Touring Car Challenge twice and then went on
to claim 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in the 2000 British Touring Car
Championship.

Today, Ford is determined to be a front-running performer in everything it
undertakes. Its premier global activity is the 2001 FIA World Rally
Championship, with a trio of Focus RS WRC cars contesting the 14-round
series. The Focus has already won five World Championship events, including
the gruelling Acropolis and East African Safari rounds and with Colin McRae,
Carlos Sainz and Francois Delecour as team drivers, Ford is a strong
contender for title honours.

With 100 years of motorsport success already under its belt, Ford is already
planning ahead for the future. From Formula 1 (with Cosworth and Jaguar)
and the prestigious CART/Champcar series (with Cosworth XF engines), to the
hugely popular NASCAR Winston Cup series (where 5.9-litre/700bhp Taurus
saloons won many of the 34 races in 2000) and top-class rally championships
across Europe and the Middle East with seven Focus RS WRC cars, Ford is
assured of continued motorsport glory in the new millennium.